How Michigan Head Coaches Throughout History Have Fared In Year Six

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh is entering year six on the job.

Harbaugh has led a resurgence at U-M, taking over a team that went 5-7 in 2014, doubling the win total in his first season and turning the Wolverines back into a national power.

Now, the mission is to take the next and final step, which includes beating Ohio State for the first time as U-M's head man, winning his first Big Ten title (and the program's first since 2004) and making the College Football Playoff. Harbaugh and his club have a shot to do all of that and more in 2020, with a team fully comprised of a roster he and his staff constructed.

Here, we take a look at the seven U-M head coaches that led the program for six or more full seasons, and how they fared in year six. During these "year sixes," U-M racked up five Big Ten titles and compiled a 5-2 record against Ohio State.

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Yost won the national title in each of his first four seasons in Ann Arbor. After a disappointing finish to the 1905 season in which the Wolverines started 12-0 but lost their final game to the University of Chicago, the Wolverines tied for a share of the Big 9 conference title in 1906.

U-M rattled off four-straight victories to begin the campaign, beating Case, Ohio State, Illinois and Vanderbilt. It was another disappointing conclusion, however, as the Yost's crew tied with the U-M Alumni and lost at Penn, 17-0, in its final two contests to end up with a 4-1-1 record.

Coming into his sixth season, Kipke's teams had won four straight conference titles and two straight national championships.

But the 1934 season was the beginning of several dark years in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines won just one game, a road tilt at Georgia Tech, en route to a final record of 1-7. They were shut out in five of their eight games, including a 16-0 loss to Michigan State and a 34-0 drubbing by Ohio State.

Kipke went on to coach three more seasons and was fired following the 1937 slate.

In his first five seasons at the helm, Crisler's teams posted three second-place and two third-place finishes in the Big Ten standings.

Year six was where a breakthrough came, one similar to what Harbaugh's Wolverines hope to make in 2020.

U-M tied with Purdue as Big Ten champions in 1943, going 8-1 with the lone loss coming to Notre Dame. The Maize and Blue capped the year off with a 45-7 blowout triumph over Ohio State and was ranked No. 3 in the land in the final AP Poll.

Crisler posted a 80.6 percent career winning percentage and won the 1947 national championship.

U-M under Oosterbaan was a far cry from what it was under Crisler and Yost. After winning the 1948 national title in his first season, Oosterbaan's teams were on a steady decline.

The 1953 campaign was one of several straight mediocre years in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines going 6-3. The highlight of the season was a 20-0 win over the Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium. U-M was ranked No. 20 in the postseason AP Poll.

The 1964 team posted a 9-1 record with a Big Ten championship, a Rose Bowl victory over Oregon State and a No. 4 ranking in the final AP Poll. The only setback of the season was a one-point loss to Purdue at the Big House. The Wolverines only gave up 83 points on the entire season (8.3 per game), and shut out rival Ohio State in Columbus, 10-0.

That would be the last time one of Elliott's squads were ranked to conclude a season. He stepped down in 1968 before Bo Schembechler took over as his replacement.

The 1974 Wolverines were one of six U-M teams to finish inside the top-five in the AP Poll under Schembechler, checking in at No. 3 in the nation. That crew was one of his best chances at winning an elusive national championship, with the only loss coming in Columbus to the Buckeyes in heartbreaking fashion. Kicker Mike Lantry missed a 33-yard field goal with 18 seconds to go that would've put U-M ahead. Instead, Ohio State won 12-10 and was able to celebrate on its own home field.

The Wolverines and Buckeyes shared the Big Ten title, but for a third straight season, U-M lost the tiebreaker and Ohio State represented the conference in the Rose Bowl.

Schembechler won 13 conference titles in 20 seasons at the head of the program.

Carr was solidified as a national championship-winning coach in 1997, when the AP ranked the Wolverines No. 1 following an undefeated campaign.

In his sixth season, Carr led U-M to a 9-3 season and a share of the Big Ten title, despite disappointing road losses at UCLA, at Northwestern and at Purdue. The Wolverines finished strong, knocking off No. 12 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium behind a stellar performance by quarterback Drew Henson. That stands as the last time U-M has won in Columbus. The Maize and Blue then rang in the new year by beating Auburn, 31-28, in the Citrus Bowl.

His conference championship in his sixth season was his third at that point and one of five during his tenure.

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